A great watch with a flash light on it

This is simply a watch with a build in flash light. There are a lot of dark places on a sailboat even during daylight.  You would find this handy deep in lockers, under floor boards, under the mattresses, back around the stuffing box and water strainers, and deep in the bottom  of the fridge.   At night, it can light the way down below, light up something for you on the fore-deck, you name it.  I have found mine to be invaluable over the years. It’s come in handy so many times that I have gone out of my way to find a watch that has a built in flashlight.

Yes, I realize that your phone has a flashlight built-in too.  And how many times has that come in handy?  But if you are on the foredeck, or hanging upside-down in the lazarette you probably won’t have your phone handy.

I used to find one at Target that was labeled as a “Coleman” watch. It was $29, and had the timer, stop watch, alarms, etc.  The light is on the front of this watch.  When you push the button the light stays on for about 6 seconds.  Well, they quit carrying this watch from what I can see, so I had to go a hunting again. I was able to find this on Ebay for the same price or less.

I also found one made by “Aquaforce” on Amazon.  It’s very nice with a flashlight on the side not the front.   When you push the button, the LED light comes on then fades off after 5 seconds.  It’s got a light up dial and a handy little compass on the band.

My sailing buddy Jeff H. came up with a watch by Swiss Army called the night vision watch. It’s got the flashlight, a nice big dial that a baby boomer can read, and it even has a flashing tiny red light that blinks every 30 seconds so you can find the watch in the dark. This watch is of very high quality, and therefore retails for $595. You can find for a lot less though.  Look on Ebay. I sprung for it, and I’m glad I did.